Desde Siempre

Love, in all its swoon-inducing shapes and sizes, anchors Desde Siempre, an affecting collection of ballads from Puerto Rican heartthrob Chayanne. The material here dates all the way back to 1988, but it's not a best-of collection, per se. Indeed, Desde Siempre is more a sweet love letter to fans. Lilting gems "Un Siglo Sin Ti," "Atado a Tu Amor" and the glittering "El Centro de Mi Corazon" were definite hits, but this savvy assemblage gives an added sense of heft to Chayanne's seemingly lightweight repertoire. He has a knack for selecting great pop songs written by first-rate composers, most notably Franco de Vita and Estefano. Chayanne is hardly a vocal powerhouse, but his phrasing benefits from the subtle shading and nuances he uses to make up for his limitations. New track "Contra Vientos y Mareas" fits in snugly with the established hits and is likely to become another of the albums many chart-toppers. --Joey Guerra